Copaifera multijuga Hayne oil, crude and fractions, was evaluated for its in vitro fungitoxic activities against five species of filamentous fungi belonging to the genus Aspergillus and three yeast species of the genus Candida. Oil-resin and essential oil concentrations ranging from 0.008 mg mL-1 to 1.6 mg mL-1 were used in qualitative and quantitative analyses. Samples were placed onto 5mm-diameter paper disks and distributed on Saboraud culture medium in Petri dishes inoculated with conidia and incubated at 28ºC during 10 days. A solution with 1.6 mg mL-1 of miconazole nitrate was used as positive control. Qualitative results indicated that the oil-resin presented good fungistatic activity; however, one of the essential oil fractions was highly effective against Candida parapsilosis IOC-2882, Aspergillus flavus IOC-3874 and A. tamarii IOC-187, with inhibition halos of 16.0±1.4 mm, 19.5±2.1 mm and 12.5±3.5 mm, respectively. The quantitative evaluation indicated that 0.3 mg mL-1 of the oil-resin inhibited Aspergillus flavus and Candida parapsilosis growth, whereas 0.08 mg mL-1 of the essential oil fraction reached this same activity.
Copaifera multijuga; essential oil; antifungal activity; Aspergillus; Candida
